Reception Radio: Apano stin Triantafyllia, by Seikilo

A Springtime Song Across the Centuries

Apano stin Triantafyllia (which translates to Upon the Rose Tree or Upon the Rosebush) is a folk song from Northern Greece. Like any self-respecting folk melody, it has hundreds of covers and variations. Today on Reception Radio, I’m highlighting a particularly special rendition of this song.

This is a performance by Seikilo, a band of musicians and luthiers from Greece. They play lyres, kitharas, and other reconstructions of stringed instruments from antiquity. Since there’s not exactly a wealth of repertoire that’s survived from the BCEs, many ancient music ensembles play a blend of historical music and modern compositions. Seikilo are no exception; their discography is a wonderful mixture of original pieces and melodies from the ancient world. They also play covers of folk music from later in Greek history, like Apano stin Triantafyllia.

I’m delighted by the sense of cultural layering and historical continuity that comes from playing folk music on ancient instruments. The lyrics here are in modern Greek, but the subject matter (spring flowers, young lovers, nesting birds) is timeless stuff. There were probably dozens of songs like this in ancient Greece and in the Byzantine era that have been lost to history. They might have been about similar topics, and may have deployed repetition and callback lyrics, the way this song does. Listen for the repeated line “mavra mou matia” (“my dark eyes”), which is a modern Greek term of endearment. It gets used here as something of a musical anchor, staying the same while the other lyrics shift and evolve.

Seikilo’s performance encourages us to think about music that’s lost to history, but it celebrates lost music instead of lamenting it. It creates something new and lovely out of old (in some cases, very, very old!) components, crafting a sense of camaraderie between Greeks from several points in history.

I was lucky enough to hear Seikilo perform live in Vancouver a few weeks ago. They played Apano stin Triantafyllia, alongside a few other modern Greek folk songs. There were quite a few Greek seniors in the audience, who all knew the words to the folk music and started singing along: I have no words to properly describe how lovely it was to be in that room. I also got to go to a lyre workshop and try my hand at some of these ancient instruments. I’ve been wanting to play the lyre since I was very small, so I was beside myself with excitement! Now I want a lyre of my own, but, since I have library school to fund, I’ll make do by listening to Seikilo.

Here are the lyrics to Apano stin Triantafyllia: I’ve included the full Greek lyrics, repetitions and all, along with an abbreviated English translation.

English:

On the rose bush

The partridge builds a nest

The birds go in and out

And the rose bush shakes

And the roses fall

On the bride's apron.

Greek:

Απάνω στη -μαύρα μου μάτια-

Απάνω στην τριανταφυλλιά

χτίζειν η πέρδικα φωλιά

Χτίζειν η πέ -μαύρα μου μάτια-

Χτίζειν η πέρδικα φωλιά

σιμπαινοβγαίνουν τα πουλιά

Σιμπαινοβγαί -μαύρα μου μάτια-

Σιμπαινοβγαίνουν τα πουλιά

και σειέται η τριανταφυλλιά

Και σειέται η -μαύρα μου μάτια-

και σειέται η τριανταφυλλιά

και πέφτουν τα τριαντάφυλλα

Και πέφτουν τα -μαύρα μου μάτια-

Και πέφτουν τα τριαντάφυλλα

μέσα στης νύφης την ποδιά.